Fruit and Vegetable Carving Competition | Results of the Heritage Days Festival in Plain City, Ohio

A carving by Svetlana Partem for the Plain City Hertiage Days Festival competition

In April, I wrote a post about upcoming fruit and vegetable carving competitions, which included the Plain City Heritage Days festival competition on May 19th. Well, I got a first hand account from one of my readers, Luis Rodriguez, who was a contestant in the Plain City fruit and vegetable carving event in May. This was Luis’ first carving competition!

Here’s a message that Luis wrote to me after his competition experience:

Hi Nita!

We did have lots of fun during the Heritage Day fruit carving competition, and got to meet great fruit carvers. Attending gave me the opportunity to put some of your techniques to good practice, knowing that it was going to be a challenge ending up in 4th place was not bad at all for my very 1st competition. Also it gives me a new view as of what to do if I want to compete in the future, and it is to bring new ideas, try something new and most of all, be even more creative.

After the competition my mind has not stopped thinking… What can capture the audience, and like you always say… What brings the Oohhhhs and Ahhhs…”

Thanks for sharing Luis and great work, by the way! Congratulations for having the will to push and challenge yourself by entering a fruit and vegetable carving competition – it’s not easy to put your skills on display in front of judges, especially if you’re a beginner!

My Student/Customer Luis Rodriguez Challenged Himself in His Very First Fruit and Vegetable Carving Competition in Plain City, Ohio on May 19th

Here’s a great picture of Luis with his carving entry:

Luis won 4th place in the Amateur category in his very first fruit and vegetable carving competition

Luis made a wonderful display using some of the techniques taught in my online lessons. For example, the onion carvings are taught in my Onion Lotus Flowers DVD and Online Lessons – you’d be surprised at how beautiful onions can look when carved into flowers! You can also learn to make some of the melon flowers and roses in Luis’ display from my Carving Watermelons DVD and Online Lessons. These lessons are available separately or as part of my 11 Week Vegetable and Fruit Carving Course 101, which is a perfect course for beginners that covers a variety of carvings including fruit bouquets, a melon bowl, flowers and much more!

The apple swan in Luis’ display is taught in my Hearts and Roses DVD and Online Lessons. This is also a great course for beginners just wanting to try fruit and vegetable carving without having to purchase any carving tools. As the name suggests, you’ll learn to make all things romatic in this DVD lesson such as orange hearts, and beet roses. Check out my online shop to learn more.

Thanks again for sharing with us, Luis!

Winners of the Heritage Days Fruit and Vegetable Carving Competition in the Professional Category

I want to share with you some results from the Heritage Days fruit and vegetable carving competition on May 19th. I hope these photos will inspire ideas for your own creations.

Here are photos of the top 3 winners in the Professional category at the competition. This was a people’s choice event where the pubic votes for their favorite carving arrangement. The most votes determine the winners.

This first place entry was created by pro carver, Nocole Bennett, who carved a lovely tree of melons:

First place Pro sculpture by Nicole Bennett

The second place fruit and vegetable carving display was made by Svetlana Partem.

Second place Pro sculpture by Svetlana Partem

I really like the peacock carving and intricate flowers in Svetlana’s display.

The third place fruit and vegetable carving entry was by John Montgomery. Isn’t it amazing?

Third place Pro sculpture by John Montgomery

Winners of the Heritage Days Fruit and Vegetable Carving Competition in the Amateur Category

Here are photos of the top 3 winners in the Amateur category in Plain City on May 19th:

The first place title in the Amateur cateogry went to Shannon Gershimchik.

First place Amateur sculpture by Shannon Gershimchik

Shannon made some lovely pepper flowers and leek flowers for his display. You can learn different variations of pepper and leek flowers in my Fun with Peppers DVD and Fanciful Leeks and Onions DVD. These lessons are also part of my Vegetable and Fruit Carving Course 101.

The second place winner in the Amateur category was Maryse Richards.

Second place Amateur sculpture by Maryse Richards

The third place title went to Jayme Schumacher-Moore.

Third place Amateur sculpture by Jayme Schumacher-Moore

Didn’t they a beautiful job on all their fruit and vegetable carving entries? I know it took a lot of practice, patience and hard work!

Reminder Regarding Upcoming Fruit and Vegetable Competitions

If you missed your chance to compete at the Plain City Heritage Days Festival, there are more opportunities coming up. So if you’re in the area, I hope you can attend either as a spectator or a competitor!

Ohio State Fair

The Ohio State Fair Food Art competition is scheduled for Tuesday, July 31, 2012.

Carvers in the amateur competition will be provided with a watermelon, cantaloupe and pineapple and three hours in which to carve their display. Professional competitors will be required to bring in a completed carving to be arranged within a one hour time limit. Here is the Download Application for Ohio State Fair Food Art competition. It promises to be a great time!

Open Food Art Competition
Saturday June 23, 2012
$500 in Cash and PrizesDOWNLOAD ENTRY FORM ONLY ACCEPTING THE FIRST 10 APPLICANTS

The Solabrate competition is open to the first 10 carvers. If you want to attend, the event is a fundraiser party, $40 each. You can get more details here. Next year it will be a large festival open to the public to attend.

The Carve V Vegetable and Fruit Carving Competition

One of the largest vegetable and fruit carving competitions in the United States would have to be the Carve in Holland, Michigan. This year’s event will be held on Friday, October 5th and Saturday, October 6, 2012.

Mr. October Online Pumpkin Carving Competition

The exact date will be announced closer to October so check back again for details!

I hope you enjoyed seeing the photos from the Heritage Days Fruit and Vegetable Carving competition and that they sparked some new ideas for your own creations!

About Nita Gill

Nita Gill has been producing detailed, high quality, step-by-step video lessons that teach the art of fruit carving since 2009. Nita has won competitions, judged competitions, appeared on TV and has even carved at the White House. She is pleased to now have thousands happy carving customer/ students in over 60 countries who have taken her video lesson that are designed like live classes, answering the questions that you'll have as you learn to carve.

What Customer/Students are Saying about Nita’s Lessons

I enjoyed making it . I can make it for hours and hours, it is so much fun. I bought the watermelon radish from a farmer’s market, everyone asked about it since they never seen it before.”

Fenti Le

Fenti Le- California

“I have just started my little event decorating business. This is a passion of mine which with your help I am trying to pursue. At first as you might remember, I was skeptical in purchasing the program, I am in my second week and from the minute I received my tools I started and I have never been happier.

This is the best thing I did for my career. Your videos are simple, clear and excellent. I wish you the best of luck and thank you for being honest . You deliver what you promised and in this day and age, that is extremely valuable, to come across someone who delivers what she promised , and much more. I pray for your success, you have the skills and you deserve it.

….If people do some research on line (like I did) they would realize that your program is “The Best” there is….. More power to you Nita, your family should be very proud of you. I am so satisfied that you can post what ever I wrote and use it in your blog or advertising in any shape or form you need it. You have my blessing and authorization. You make me proud, as a woman.”

Manda Vassigh

Dear Nita,

Last Tues. 7/29 we drove from Frederick, Maryland to Columbus, Ohio to attend the carving competition as a amateur.

This is my first time & I got the second place. I’m so happy & I would like to let You know. We so appreciate what You have done to give us all the information & always encourage to love carving!

About The Author

Nita is inviting you into the world of fruit and vegetable carving. You'll join thousands of others who've become watermelon carving and fruit carving experts using Nita's simple and easy-to-follow food art instructions! Her how to garnish & melon carving video lessons will show you how to sculpt beautiful fruit bouquets & arrangements! Create spooky pumpkin carving creations this Halloween.